The present invention relates generally to beverage container holders, and more particularly, to portable beverage container holders having vertical supports that are adapted to be implanted into the ground such that the holder retains its associated beverage container in a raised, yet low-standing, relationship to the ground.
According to statistics determined by several of the States, it is estimated that over one hundred thirty million (130,000,000) visits are made to beaches and parks each year. Additionally, there are about one hundred thirty-five (135) major ampitheaters, bandshells, pavilions, music parks and other forms of outdoor-concert venues, all of which have capacities that permit them to seat crowds of four thousand (4,000) to twenty thousand (20,000) patrons.
Given the above, and given the fact that most outings to these locations typically last for at least one, and more likely several, hours, patrons typically consume cool beverages during such outings, particularly on hot summer days. Up until the present invention, at such outings, patrons were required to either hold their beverages, or set them at rest against the ground surface. As an alternative, some patrons placed their beverage containers in a makeshift burrow dug into the ground surface. Others rested them in the fold of a towel, shirt or similar cloth.
As will be appreciated, any of the above prior art solutions were inadequate for at least two reasons. First, beverage containers typically have an outside surface that permits the accumulation of sand, especially when the container surface is moist due to condensation. When a person lifts the container from its rested position, the accumulated sand often falls from the beverage container onto the clothing and other items of the person or sticks to the person""s hand. Second, while resting on the ground or set in any of the other above-described manners, the beverage container is typically not supported in a way such that it will remain upright when subjected to even relatively minor external forces.
In light of the foregoing deficiencies in what has been attempted before to resolve this age-old problem, it is an object of the preferred form of the present invention to provide a beverage container holder that permits a beverage container to rest on a platform raised above the ground.
It is another object of the preferred form of the present invention to provide a beverage container holder that permits a beverage container to rest in a low-standing relationship to the ground.
It is yet another object of the preferred form of the present invention to provide a beverage container holder that is portable.
It is still another object of the preferred form of the present invention to provide a beverage container holder that includes vertical supports that are adapted such that a portion of each of them can be firmly implanted into the ground and the holder can retain the beverage container in a stable, upright position.
It is still yet another object of the preferred form of the present invention to provide a beverage container holder that includes a hedge that prevents an associated beverage container, once retained in the cannister placement area of the holder, from spilling its liquid contents.
It is another object of the preferred form of the present invention to provide a beverage container holder that can be nested within a beverage container holder of identical size, thereby permitting a plurality of such beverage container holders of identical size to form a stack of such beverage container holders.
These and other objects of the preferred form of the present invention will become apparent from the following description. It will be understood, however, that an apparatus could still appropriate the invention claimed herein without accomplishing each and every one of these objects, including those gleaned from the following description. The appended claims, not the objects, define the subject matter of this invention. Any and all objects are derived from the preferred form of the invention, not necessarily the invention in general.
The present invention is directed to a beverage container holder comprising a vertical support system portion that has at least a section thereof that can be inserted into the ground. The beverage container holder further includes a canister placement area defined by a base portion connected to the vertical support system portion for supporting the beverage container above the ground when the vertical support system portion section is inserted into the ground. The beverage container holder cannister placement area is further defined by a hedge portion. The hedge portion maintains the beverage container in a substantially upright position when the container is placed within the cannister placement area, and thereby prevents the liquid contents of the beverage container from spilling on the ground or elsewhere.